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scene four, thanking the academy
First, I'd like to thank God. I know that there's alot of people in this federation who don't share my faith, and I completely respect that... so I'm sorry if it's a bother for you to listen to me say these things. However, I do have to say that I honestly feel blessed, that it was God who's made me into the wrestler I am today. It's always been the big guy upstairs that I've gone to before every match, praying that I can safely walk my way out of that ring when it's all over and keep on fighting. There's not a day in my life where I dread getting injured in that ring and it ending my career... so I always pray for his protection before I lace up those boots.
Then, of course... there's Suki. I mean... there's just so much throughout not just my wrestling career, but my very life, that she's done for me. Suki was there for me when my first love passed away in a car accident, she was there for me when I struggled to recover from the pain I was going through. When I was in the HWF, it was Suki who came to see and travel with me, even when she had so many other things going on in life. It eventually caught up to her when she had to go back home for a short while... but by God, it only took a few months for her to right those things and come back to me. Suki has never let me feel alone, she's never stood idly and let me go on hurting. Suki Minamoto means all the world to me... and without her, I don't know how I could have had the will to advance in this business as far as I have.
My parents... oh, I could never forget about them. It was my father who first got me into wrestling as a child, when he and I sat together on his recliner and watched those faded images of the old names of wrestling. He would show me tapes of matches from his time, and I would watch each one with eyes wide in wonder. He supported me all throughout my life, and even helped me train when I decided that I truly wanted to become a wrestler. My mother, bless her heart, was always scared that I'd injure myself with my training... but she never did try to stop me. She knew it was what I wanted and it would be a crime to try and deny a potential future from me, but she always did try to show me other possible careers should I ever lose interest in wrestling.
I never did lose interest, obviously... and she never stopped supporting me. Neither of them ever stopped supporting me, hell I still call them every time we stop in a city on tour, just so I can talk to them and see how everything's going, and everytime that I do they're always telling me how proud they are of me, and how they'll always be there to back me up in life.
Without them... wrestling would have never even heard of the man named Dominic Pericolo.
Then there's my friends, both old and new. Chris Jacobs, a friend of mine from childhood who stuck with me all throughout life and still calls from time to time just to shoot the shit. He's the guy who delved a little into the indy scene when he had the chance to, always talking to me about how great it would be to one day hit the big time. However, around the time I finally made it to the HWF, he suffered a career-ending injury. We were supposed to enter together as a tag team... but that never happened, unfortunately. Still, I owe alot to that guy... he was always there to make me feel better about things in general.
Crystal... she was the one I loved growing up as a teen. It took me years before I could finally recover from her death when I was 19, but I eventually moved on and, well... you know the rest, as I found out my true feelings for Suki during my stay in the HWF. However, it was Crystal who stood by my side during my training. It was Crystal who was there for me, right alongside of Suki, when I struggled through the hardships of trying to build yourself up to reach for your dreams.
She was always there for me... and even beyond the grave for awhile, she encouraged me and pushed me forward in the early days of my HWF career. I can't thank her enough for the mark she's left on my life... it's a mark I don't think will ever fade.
NLCW's own Chris Champion is another guy I'd be a fool to not mention. Chris was the guy in the HWF who was always pushing me to get better, even when we were the best of enemies. As a matter of fact... have you ever noticed this scar I have across my forehead? Chris gave that to me during the best match we'd ever had in the HWF-- the School House Brawl. We were fighting in the middle of this library and he started throwing everything he could at me to stop me from coming at him. At one point, he grabbed this little bell thing-- you know, those ones you ding when you want a receptionist's attention? Anyway, he threw it at me and the sharp end hit my forehead at an angle, cutting across it and slicing the skin open. I had to get a couple stitches put in there because of that... and I'd be a liar to say that the guy doesn't point the scar out to me every day we talk to each other. He takes pride in that mark, because he knows it'll never leave me. He knows he left a lasting impression on me, and that he'll never be forgotten.
I was there for Chris when Georgina was in a coma, as a matter of fact I think I was the first one there to stand by his side. I knew exactly what he was going through... and I knew it would be wrong for me to not be there for him when my own friends and family were there for me. I've had to drive him back to his plcae because he was so drunk off his ass that he was swimming in public fountains... and I've had to deal with the shame of knowing that at one point in the HWF... I actually turned my back on him. I never realized I even did it, and I think Chris knows that. I think he knows that at that point in time, with all the stress of failure eating away at me... I just wasn't right in the head anymore.
I still thank God to this day that the HWF closed when it did... because that was exactly the wakeup call I needed to snap out of that state of mind.
NLCW management in general deserves a big thanks from me as well, because they are the people who brought me here and believed that I had the potential to be a champion. They booked me against their best and brightest wrestlers just to 'test the waters', so to speak... and when they were sure I was ready, they put me into that tournament at Road to Slamfest.
I don't think there was a doubt in anyone's minds that it would come down to the two people it did... but I know that whoever won that thing would completely have the mangement's blessings. So when I managed to beat Perry that night, I knew that it was all set in stone from there. I finally had a shot at my dreams... and there'd be only one man standing in my way.
In advance, I'd better thank Durst too, huh? After all... he'll be the one giving me the match of my very wrestling career...
... and a big old golden belt to wear proudly in rememberance of that bloody Sunday night.